AN auction of properties being sold at heavily-discounted prices is expected to generate €10m later this week.

Auctioneer Noel Forde has been inundated with offers from owners desperate to sell and has decided to limit numbers and organise a further auction for next September.

The properties are being sold by private owners who are willing to accept offers up to 70pc lower than peak prices.

The cheapest item at auction is a 1.7-acre site in Borris-on-Ossory in Laois which -- while it doesn't have planning permission -- is located in an area zoned for urban development and lies adjacent to the railway line. It is on offer for €15,000.

"You'd just about buy a top-notch second-hand car for €15,000 four years ago," Mr Forde said.

"And that was just about the deposit required for a site let alone its actual price.

"We have a total of 67 properties in the auction on Friday, June 24 and, back in 2006/2007, they would probably have a guideline value of about €20m.

"Now, they are valued at around €10m," Mr Forde added.

The auction will also feature three sites in Ardgroom in west Cork, on offer for less than one-third of their 2006 asking price.

The auction follows the success of a discounted property sale in Dublin in April which saw €14.8m of deals struck in just six hours.

Interest

Mr Forde of GMAC Properties in Castletownbere in west Cork is confident of similar interest on Friday at the Radisson Hotel in Little Island.

"There is money out there and people are waiting for the right time to buy," he said.

Properties from Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Limerick, Clare and Waterford will now go under the hammer.

These include:

•Three-bedroom holiday homes in west Clare on offer for €80,000 compared to their €200,000 asking price in 2006/2007.

•A four-bedroom detached bungalow in Newmarket, north Cork, on offer for €145,000, which was priced at €300,000 five years ago.

•A bungalow in Churchtown in north Cork, on offer for €110,000. Identical properties previously sold for €225,000.

•Three Ardroom sites, all with planning permission, have a guide of €93,000 each -- a price drop of 69pc.

Buyers on the day will require proof of identity and a cheque book/banker's draft to cover the 10pc deposit on all properties sold.